By CAMERON BOON
WEBSTER, N.Y. — In game two against the Genesee Rapids Friday night, Armando Valentin (Benedict) looped what would have been a game-tying single down the right field line in the bottom of the seventh inning, but it fell less than a foot foul.
Fast forward to Sunday’s game against the Hornell Dodgers at Basket Road Field, Valentin was in a similar situation. Game tied at one, winning run on second base and two outs.
“I was not trying to do too much,” Valentin said. “I stepped up there with confidence.”
He sent the ball again down the right field line, this time it was fair. Nick Jensen (Grays Harbor), who had his first plate appearance of the 2015 season earlier in the game, whipped around third and scored the winning run as the Rochester Ridgemen defeated the Dodgers 2-1 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action Sunday night.
The win was the second straight for Rochester over their Western Division rival.
“Hats off to him,” head coach Joe Shallenberger said. “Those are two situations in a row where he put the ball in play one time and just missed and this time he did put it in play so he deserves all the credit in the world.”
This was Rochester’s third straight victory by a margin of one run at Basket Road Field, a streak that stretches back to June 20th when the Ridgemen defeated Olean 2-1 in 12 innings.
VIEW SUE KANE’S FLICKR GALLERY HERE.
“I was at full sprint ready to score unless I got held up,” Jensen said. “But then I heard the dugout yell and freak out and I knew I was going to score.”
Jensen started the ninth with a grounder to second that was mishandled allowing the Alaska native to reach. Michael DiViesti (Butler), who replaced Tim Gurnow (Southwest Baptist) in the seventh, placed a sacrifice bunt up the right side to move Jensen into scoring position.
The Hornell pitcher up until this point was CJ Lee (Webster) and he was the tough-luck loser in this one. He threw 8.1 innings of stellar baseball, striking out eight Ridgemen batters while only allowing one earned run on five hits.
His counterpart, NYCBL newcomer Caleb Dougherty (Abilene Christian), went pitch-for-pitch with him. Dougherty tossed seven strong innings, allowing one earned run on four hits while striking out three Dodgers.
“He had a good mix,” Shallenberger said of his new pitcher who arrived from the Dominican Republic on Thursday. “When he had them 0-2, they were sitting fastball and he threw them something different. That’s what you have to do in this league.”
With Rochester two games back of a playoff spot, the push is on and they will need every ounce of pitching they can get.
Both teams earned their runs in the third inning.
Max McDougald (Wofford) started Hornell’s half of the inning with a base hit, then stole second and advanced to third on a Jacob Bass (Newberry) groundout. Brown then took the first pitch he saw and laced it up the middle to give the Dodgers the short-lived lead.
Rochester answered as Valentin and Aaron Vallance (Wayland Baptist) led off the bottom half of the third with walks. Two batters later, Ryan O’Hearn (Hillsdale) shot a single into center, allowing Valentin to score the tying run.
From then on, it was a pitcher’s duel.
Dougherty retired 12 of the final 15 batters he faced, while his competitor Lee set down 14 of his final 20 batters, including a stretch of seven in eight tries.
Jake Purcell (Clearwater Christian) relieved Dougherty in the eighth and was stellar, not allowing a single baserunner in his two innings of work.
That is now six straight innings of scoreless relief, a stretch that has seen his ERA drop to a season-low 5.84 from 12 earlier in the year.
“When he first got here, he was all about his mechanics,” Shallenberger said. “He’s now going out and just throwing the ball and mixing it up.”
After Jensen reached and DiViesti bunted him over to start the bottom of the ninth, Hornell manager Tom Kenney went to Thaddeus Johnson (St. Bonaventure) to keep the Ridgemen at bay.
He took two pitches to retire Drew Farmer (Western Michigan) on a flyout to center. But the stage was set for Valentin’s grand exit.
“I was not trying to do too much,” the Columbia, South Carolina native said. “Always think positive, and it worked out.”
The Ridgemen are now 12-16 on the year, while the Dodgers drop to 18-9. Same two teams Monday night at Basket Road Field, with first pitch coming at 7:00 p.m.
Leave a Reply